Fire leaves cat with eight lives left

A cat living at the Roanoke Terrace apartments nearly violated the old chestnut Monday after a fire broke out at his home.

Seattle firefighters breathed life back into Fitzpatrick after he was pulled from the burning building, a four-story number over in the Eastlake neighborhood. He’d been pulled from his owner’s apartment after he succumbed to smoke inhalation.

The story of the fire, which charred three apartments, is here. We’ll update on the blog when we learn the cause.

Fitzpatrick owes the rest of his lives to a small adapter carried by Seattle battalion chiefs that allows firefighters to breath for injured cats and dogs. Fire spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick tells us the department carries them because they know how much pets mean to residents.

Having been to a few fires where the kitties weren’t as lucky as Fitzgerald, I can tell you this – while it can’t be compared to losing a loved one, the pain of losing a pet by fire is horrendous. Here’s to hoping that Fitzgerald and the rest of the folks at Roanoke Terrace land on their feet.